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The View from France
I recently moved to France and have been very interested to hear the local takes on the US elections. The Frech media is basically ignoring the GOP race and only focusing on Hillary and Obama. The reason for this Dem focus surprised me a bit. It's not because the HillBama race is sexier or more star-studded (which would be a reasonable reason if you ask me). No, it's because the French people I listen to can't even imagine a scenario where the good people of the United States would vote for a Republican again.
I try to tell them that it's not quite that cut-and-dry but they don't want to listen.
I try to tell them that it's not quite that cut-and-dry but they don't want to listen.
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Comments (13)
I've lived in France for a long time and share the French incredulity that Americans would again endorse Bush policies by choosing another Republican. Of course, we were stunned four years ago too, and not just because John (Le) Kerry spoke French.
That being said, the American elections are getting as much ink and airtime in France as any local story except the Sarko show.
February 2, 2008 12:20 PM | Reply | Permalink
I don't think voting for McCain, Romney, or Huckabee is "endoring Bush policies".
February 2, 2008 5:40 PM | Reply | Permalink
So, question. I've been wondering this for awhile. I even went on to some French newspaper sites by my French is, to say the least, lacking.
Which candidate seems to be generating more buzz over there?
March 12, 2008 2:13 PM | Reply | Permalink
You are correct it is not that cut and dry.
However McCain has several problems: a war mongerer, his infamous bad temper, age and a host of other issues .
If voters did (god forbid) elect McCain it would be to America's demise.
March 23, 2008 7:26 PM | Reply | Permalink
Interesting - I am getting feedback from friends in England where I lived a long time ago (80's) and the candidate they favor is Obama. Even someone I know who was a Thatcherite Tory. But, of course this observation is purely unscientific and anecdotal, wonder if there are any polls?
March 27, 2008 12:16 AM | Reply | Permalink
oh - forgot to add - the reason they like him is "the British always support an underdog". and, "cant quite face seeing the Clintons back in the Whitehouse."
March 27, 2008 12:18 AM | Reply | Permalink
Actually there are some polls out there on this. Obama usually wins worldwide, though in the UK people have a strange attachment to Hillary Clinton, giving her higher poll numbers (and sometimes a win in UK polls). I think this has something to do with the BBC having spun a consistent pro-Clinton line ever since 1992, and the conventional political wisdom in the UK being the HRC would be President has been going for several years.
From the UK in mid-Feb:
http://extras.timesonline.co.uk/results140208.pdf
There are usually worldwide polls of the presidential race - John Kerry was favored by about 80 or 90% worldwide in 2004.
April 25, 2008 10:14 AM | Reply | Permalink
in re the Times Poll, scroll down to last page, p.11
April 25, 2008 10:15 AM | Reply | Permalink
Obama is heavily favored among the countries I have been recently (including the UK, like urbanamerican said), except Ireland. The Irish I spoke to said they liked Obama but viewed Bill Clinton as THE key player in bringing peace in Northern Ireland (this surprised me a bit, but to a person I was told nothing would have been accomplished without him). So Hillary is who they want running our country. I'll be in France soon myself, so I appreciate your thoughts.
March 29, 2008 2:10 PM | Reply | Permalink
If one wishes to briefly analyze how the US primary elections are viewed in France, it is important to remember how the two countries compare politically and ideologically. France has a far more diverse political spectrum than the US. There are a number of different political parties from the far right to the far-left. The French far-right being close to what would be considered the homophobic fringe of the Republican Party here in America. The far-left advocating a French brand of communism and unwavering commitments to the distribution of wealth and the defense of the "proletariat" known here as the blue collar working class.
That being said the two dominant political ideologies in France are a mild center-right movement that advocates reforms towards a less regulated free market economy coupled with a slight reduction of social benefits and a still strong socialist movement that goes further left in its agenda than the Democrats ever do.
Aside from the widespread anti-war sentiment and the general dislike for George Bush and the policies he represents, the public opinion seems to remain somewhat neutral with a slight preference for a democratic administration to succeed.
This would appear to explain why John McCain is viewed with relative skepticism, however without the high negatives generally associated with the current administration.
The Clinton name does have some positive recognition in France for several reasons, one being Bill’s overall high ratings as a proponent of diplomacy, another being the positive US role that Europeans associate with the Balkans conflicts. One less politically motivated reason is that French people have never understood the motivation or even the validity of the magnitude of the Lewinsky scandal. They feel rather contemptuous towards such witch-hunts and therefore hold the Clinton name dear for that reason.
It is also important to note that depending on where the coverage comes from in the press, you will see a lot of fascination for the enthusiasm that Senator Obama generates, especially on the left, while the rest of the country seems far more preoccupied by its own social and economic issues whenever the spotlight is not on one of the captivating personal events that seem fill the life of the French President.
Cheers to all.
March 29, 2008 6:22 PM | Reply | Permalink
I haven't been to France lately, but I have been in England and in Canada in the past couple of weeks. Everyone I talked to in England (including some Europeans), and almost everyone I talked to in Canada, was following the Democratic race, and rooting for Obama. Of course my friends are hardly a random sample of the population, but, for what it's worth, this is what I heard from them ...
A huge part of Obama's appeal in the UK was that he's seen as the candidate likely to restore sanity to US foreign policy, and to restore America's moral standing in the world. They also think an American president with an African name would send a message that US policy has really changed from what we've seen the past eight years. They find Obama brilliant and charismatic, whereas Clinton is, well, dishonest and irritating. They also are desperate for any Democrat to win in 2008, but they kept saying, "Clinton can't win."
When I was in Toronto last weekend, two of my women friends said they had initially been big Clinton supporters, as they fondly remember the Clinton years, but they're pretty turned off by the McCain endorsement and the Bosnia lie, so now they're on the fence. (The race-baiting didn't seem to be an issue for these two women.) But everyone else I talked to was really excited about Obama. Even the most conservative of my friends could not believe that the Dems weren't elected in a landslide in 2004, given the manifest failures of the Bush administration. (Polls show that about 80% of Canadians favor the Dems, and only 20% favor the GOP.) They want the candidate they think can win. What really won my conservative friends over was the race speech. They watched it on Youtube, and they loved it.
From the March 7, 2008 Toronto Star: "Obama Would Win in Canada: Poll" http://www.thestar.com/article/310541
Or check out
http://www.theworldwantsobama.org/
... especially the hilarious Bollywood music video :)
April 1, 2008 4:26 PM | Reply | Permalink
I try to explain to my Euro friends that US politics is much more complicted than a single candidate. If you're a single-issue anti-abortion voter, you're going to vote GOP, even if it's George Bush. If you're a union member, you're going to vote your own interests for the candidate you think will look out for them. Let''s face it -- the old party machines are still active in some cities and will deliver votes for deals they make with candidates.
The psychology of voting is fascinating and deeply mysterious at the same time. Rational people make seemingly irrational voting decisions. It works the same way in Europe, as we recently saw in Spain (which amounted to a cultural referendum), but Europeans who aren't clued in to our domestic issues don't get the subtle nature of the system.
April 22, 2008 3:27 AM | Reply | Permalink
Obama gets a lot more press coverage than the other two. For me, it's tha same reason that Sarkozy won: Obama is visually more appealing.
On one of the public television channels, the attitude is enthusiastically Obama with a certain condescension toward Clinton. It's truly frightening how superficial coverage can be!
The French do not seem to be able to link their predilection for superficial elegance to the government they voted in. Only 1/3 approve of a government put into place on the basis of slogans touting change and the elegant dress code of the mouthpiece.
May 5, 2008 11:16 AM | Reply | Permalink
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